Technological and textural properties of spent chicken breast, drumstick and thigh meats as affected by marinating with pineapple fruit juice.

1. This study was conducted to determine the effects of pineapple fruit juice at different marination times (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 min) on pH, water holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL) and colour (L*, a*, b*, hue angle and chroma) properties of breast, drumstick and thigh meats from spent hens. Textural properties (razor shear force and shear energy) and sensory analyses of the samples were tested. 2. With increasing marination time, there was a decrease in pH and WHC values, and an increase in CL values. However, marination treatment with pineapple fruit juice significantly affected the textural measurement of all the meat muscles compared with the control group. 3. Razor shear force and shear energy were lower when marination was performed for 160 min. Colour analyses showed that marination for 80 min resulted in significantly increased L*, a* and b* values. The samples marinated for longer times were most preferable, according to the tenderness scores assigned by the panellists.